Glass-melting furnace



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

B. GRAY. GLASS MELTING FURNACE.

a mum: ve'rzns ca. PHOTDUTIKL, wunmu (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

R. GRAY. GLASS MBLTING FURNACE.

No. 483,915. Patented Oct. 4, 1892 Zr 5.. i I

e e e "V;eW///// UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RALPH GRAY, OF ANDERSON, INDIANA.

GLASS-MELTING FURNACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 483,915, dated October4, 1892.

Application filed June 18, 1892- Serial No. 437,187. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RALPH GRAY, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Anderson, in the county of Madison and State of Indiana,have invented certain new and useful ImprovementsinGlass-MeltingFurnaces; and I do declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawin gs, and to lettersof reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a vertical section. Fig. 2 is a horizontalsection taken on line a m, Fig. 1. Fig. 8 is a horizontal section andplan View of a modification. Fig. i is an enlarged detail section ofburner-pipe.

The object of this invention is to provide certain new and usefulimprovements in furnaces for melting sand and other ingredients for themanufacture of glass; and it consists in the novel construction andcombination of parts, all as hereinafter specified.

The invention more particularly relates to that class of furnaces forthis purpose in which natural or other gas is used for producing thenecessary heat; and it consists in the peculiar arrangement of theburners whereby not only the operation of melting is much more quicklyeffected than formerly, but a large saving of gas is produced, togetherwith other important results hereinafter referred to.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter A designates the furnace, whichis generally of the ordinary construction, one side being shown asbroken away to disclose the inte- IlOl'.

B B designate the pots, which are usually arranged in a circle aroundthe base of the f u rnace upon the benches c.

D designates the usual burner pipe, arranged in the central lowerportion of the base, inside the circle of pots, and supplied by theservice-pipe D, entering the furnace through the side wall thereof at d.In addition to this central burner commonly used, I employa series ofburner-pipes E, the mouths of which are located just outside of thefurnace-wall and in front of openings e therein.

These pipes are so arranged as to each throw a flame through itsrespective aperture e between two adjacent pots;

E are the mixers and regulators for the pipes E.

By placing the pipes outside of the furnace they are protected from theintense heat therein and are kept cool by the low temperature of the gasfrom the well. It will be observed that by means of these burners, incombination with the central burner, the pots are subjected to anintense heat from all sides, which results in the fusion of the chargesin a much shorter period about four hours sooner-'than in the old styleof furnace. Owing to this saving in the time required for the operationand the location of the burners at points where the maximum availableheat is utilized, a great saving of gas is effected. A further advantageis that, owing to the intensified heat, a large saving of salt-cake maybe effected, amounting to about seven pounds to everyone hundred poundsof sand. A saving of the fuel required for burning up the salt-Waterused as an attendant in the operation of melting glass is also obtained,inasmuch as the intensified heat of the combined burners consumes eightyper cent. of such water. In the old style, where the heat is suppliedsolely by the central burner, it often happens that the inner portion ofthe pot is melted and destroyed before the sand is fused. This isprevented by this invention. A more perfect fusion is also obtained,producing a superior quality of glass, and this is also true in warmweather, which cannot be done in the old style of furnace.

In the accompanying drawingsl have shown the invention applied to around furnace, such as is commonly employed in melting flint. It is,however, obvious that it may be equally as well applied to the angularor oblong furnaces, such as are used in making window, plate, and otherkinds of glass.

Having described this invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s-

1. In a gas-furnace for the manufacture of glass, the combination, withthe pots and cen-' tral burner-pipe therefor, of the additional burnersarranged to direct their flames from reet their flames through the saidapertures the outside between adjacent pots, substanbetween adjacentpots, substantially as specitially as specified. fied.

2. In a gas-furnace for the manufacture of In testimony WhereofI affixmy signature in 5 1 glass, the colmbination of a series of pots, a,presence of two Witnesses.

urner-pipe coated centrally within the space 1 inclosed by said series,the surrounding fur- RALPH GRAY nace-wall having a series of aperturesthere- Witnesses: through, and a series of burner-pipes located R. H.GILBERT, 1o exteriorly of the furnace and arranged to di- I BERT HARMON.

